Holy Cow! It's A Home Run!!!

Sometime around the mid to late 1950s until the Spring of 1963, my favorite place to be on a summer evening was on my Grandpa Hasemeyer's lap, sitting in a home made lawn chair in his back yard, listening to the voice of Harry Caray on KMOX-AM. At least that's who I remember most. "Holy Cow!!!!", he'd yell! Grandpa had an old, half broken tube radio that sat in the open window in his summer kitchen on Swanwick Street and, for me, that's where the sounds of baseball came from. I loved it! And because of Grandpa, I learned to love the St. Louis Cardinals. I know that Joe Garagiola also announced, but for the most part, I remember Harry Caray's voice. And I remember the names of those boys of summer who are pretty much etched in my brain......Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Tim McCarver, Curt Flood, Mike Shannon, Ken Boyer, Julian Javier, Red Schoendienst and my favorite - first baseman Bill White! Oh, I know there were others and their names are still familiar to me, as well. But those names above stayed with me in a big way.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not an information addict when it comes to professional baseball. Those people amaze me. I've never paid a lot of attention to stats. Maybe a little. And while watching games now, I find I'm still shaky when it comes to some of the more obscure rules. But for me, that doesn't matter. I love the St. Louis Cardinals.

There were lots of years during my early adulthood when I didn't watch regularly - too busy with my son's T-Ball, little league, swimming meets and so forth, I guess. But I never forgot them. Throughout the past several years I've re-joined the status of avid fan and now that I'm retired, I'm relentless. I don't like to miss a game if it's humanly possible not to.

Lots of people go to games at the ballpark regularly. Unfortunately, I am not one of those people. Bob would rather watch the games on TV. Grrrrrrrr. We go once in a while. :) For me, though, there's nothing like being there. The smells. The noises. The venders. You know what I mean. I've followed the Cardinals through many coaches and managers, through many player trades, etc. I get frustrated with them, but I can never cheer for a different team.

Obviously most of us watch the games on TV these days. Listening to them on the radio - unless we're in the car - is pretty much a thing of the past. But as much as I enjoy sitting at home in front of the TV, watching the Cardinals play - I often comment that something is missing for me. I'd love to sit outside, on the porch or the patio, and just listen to the sounds of the game. It's the memory of those great summer nights that I miss. And Grandpa. I miss my Grandpa.

And if I could get Harry Caray or Joe Garagiola back in the announcer's booth, that would be great too. They were sure a lot better than the some of the ones we listen to today.

I know that the Cardinals are not having an epic 2016 season. In fact today they got tromped. But I still love them. I always will.